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New restaurant lands in Quinte West

Staff from Stewart Electric replace the Kelsey's restaurant sign with a Landings sign at the restaurant Friday morning. Owner Safdar Shah has left the Kelsey's franchise behind and is now operating the restaurant independently.
Emily Mountney QMI Agency

As of this past Tuesday, what was Kelsey's restaurant is now Landings Bar and Grill.

Motorists driving along Dundas Street East might have noticed some changes to the outside of the building – like the restaurant's new signs going up – and more changes are in the works.

“All the staff has been very supportive of the switch,” said owner Safdar Shah Thursday.

Shah – the owner of Prime Time Steak House in Belleville and the former owner of Sneaky Pete's which used to be located inside Quinte Mall – said the time was right to leave the chain behind and go independent.

“Franchises have both positives and negatives,” said Shah. “But here in our community we have several nice, locally owned restaurants. Franchises tend to get people's attention easier, but the independent restaurants are serving better food to the community.”

According to Shah, Kelsey's in Trenton opened in 1997. He bought the restaurant in 2001.

Shah said the franchise just hasn't been as profitable in the past couple of years as it used to be.

“It's just not the same as it used to be, not the same as when I first got involved,” said Shah.

The menu will feature the same type of bar and grill favourites – don't worry, wing night hasn't changed – but with more local products involved.

Because Shah won't have to pay out any royalties to CARA Network, which owns Kelsey's, Montana's, Swiss Chalet, and Milestones, he can pass those savings along to customers by lowering prices on menu items.

During the next few months, Shah will be making more changes to both the interior and exterior of the building to give the restaurant a more personal, local feel.

“We'll be doing some upgrades on the outside and changing the wallpaper inside, just to make things a bit more different,” said Shah. “I want to get some base-related memorabilia that represent the Canadian Forces up on the walls.”

He chose the name Landings to honour the large number of 8 Wing personnel who visit the establishment – on Thursday, the first lunch customers were a group of base personnel.

“We get a lot of business from the base, about 35 to 40 per cent,” said Shah.

The restaurant's new logo features a military aircraft making the descent towards landing.

“I wanted to make it really local, that's my plan.” said Shah. “I just hope the community supports it.”